U.S. patent application number 09/949282 was filed with the patent office on 2003-03-13 for installing a high fidelity sound, voice paging, or music system by mounting an electrical to acoustic transducer inside a wall mounted gang box.
Invention is credited to Dillon, Geoffrey M., Goodman, Robert L., Lee, Dai Z., Liu, David, North, Donald J., Sauer, Paul.
Application Number | 20030048918 09/949282 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25488842 |
Filed Date | 2003-03-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030048918 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Dillon, Geoffrey M. ; et
al. |
March 13, 2003 |
Installing a high fidelity sound, voice paging, or music system by
mounting an electrical to acoustic transducer inside a wall mounted
gang box
Abstract
An acoustic transducer is secured to a plate having a front side
and a back side. The transducer has an outer body with a front
portion and rear portion and is sized to entirely fit inside an
electrical gang box. A front-to-back enlarged opening in the plate
is sized to receive the front portion of the transducer body. The
transducer is secured to the plate so that the front portion is
located within the front-to-back opening of the plate and is
generally flush with the front side of the plate and most of the
transducer body including the rear portion extends behind the plate
into the gang box.
Inventors: |
Dillon, Geoffrey M.; (Los
Angeles, CA) ; Sauer, Paul; (Los Angeles, CA)
; North, Donald J.; (Los Angles, CA) ; Lee, Dai
Z.; (Los Angeles, CA) ; Goodman, Robert L.;
(Laguna Niquel, CA) ; Liu, David; (Arcadia,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN
12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, SEVENTH FLOOR
LOS ANGELES
CA
90025
US
|
Family ID: |
25488842 |
Appl. No.: |
09/949282 |
Filed: |
September 7, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
381/395 ;
181/150; 248/231.9; 361/600; 381/386; 381/87 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04R 1/02 20130101; H04R
2201/021 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
381/395 ;
181/150; 248/231.9; 381/386; 381/87; 361/600 |
International
Class: |
H04R 001/02; G08B
021/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for installing a high fidelity sound system, a voice
paging system, or a background music system, comprising: securing
an electrical to acoustic transducer to a plate having a front side
and a back side, the transducer being suitable for use in one of
said systems, the transducer having a front portion and rear
portion and being sized to entirely fit inside an electrical gang
box, a front-to-back enlarged opening in the plate sized to receive
the front portion of the transducer, the transducer being secured
to the plate so that the front portion is located within the
front-to-back opening of the plate and is generally flush with the
front side of the plate and most of the transducer including the
rear portion extends behind the plate; and attaching the plate at a
plurality of points on the plate, where such points are located
outwards from the opening, to a plurality of cooperating points in
a wall-mounted electrical gang box.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the transducer has an audible
frequency response that is in the entire range of approximately 100
Hz-20 KHz for accurate voice or music reproduction.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: connecting one end of
a first pair of transducer wires, the wires being designed for
conducting one of voice and music in said systems, to an electrical
connector in the transducer.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising: routing the pair of
transducer wires through a wall in which the electrical gang box is
mounted, between a wire opening in the gang box and a wall-mounted
electrical connector; and connecting another end of the pair of
transducer wires to the wall-mounted electrical connector.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising: connecting one end of
a second pair of transducer wires to the wall-mounted electrical
connector and connecting another end of the second pair to an audio
output of an amplifier unit.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising: wherein the transducer
is secured to the plate by a plurality of screws that are threaded
into a plurality of hollows formed in the front side of the plate
and positioned outwardly of the enlarged opening.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the plate further includes a lip
extending backwards from the back side of the plate and positioned
outwards of and substantially surrounding the enlarged opening to
center the plate on the gang box so that the transducer while being
mounted in the gang box does not contact any sidewalls of the gang
box.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: placing some acoustic
damping material inside and to the rear of the gang box prior to
mounting the transducer therein.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the gang box is a multi-gang box,
the method further comprising: attaching one of a toggle switch, a
light dimmer, and a volume control mechanism to the box, prior to
attaching the plate to the box, wherein said volume control
mechanism is further coupled to receive transducer wiring through
the box and control the volume of sound produced by the transducer
and carried by the wiring.
10. The method of claim 5 wherein the amplifier unit is part of a
background music system from which the music is controlled.
11. The method of claim 5 wherein the amplifier unit is part of a
voice paging system from which the voice is controlled.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the transducer includes a casing
having an inner surface and an outer surface, a pole piece within
the casing, having an outer surface, and an inner surface defining
a venting passage therethrough, a substantially annular gap being
defined between the inner surface of the casing and the outer
surface of the pole piece, a substantially circular magnetic
structure in the annular gap, being radially polarized so as to
have a first polarity on an inner surface and a second polarity on
an outer surface so as to create a line of magnetic flux following
a loop sequentially from the outer surface of the magnetic
structure to the casing, from the casing to the pole piece, and
from the pole piece to the inner surface of the magnetic structure,
the casing, the pole piece and the magnetic structure being mounted
to one another to form a magnet assembly which defines an annular
coil gap with the path of the loop being across the coil gap, a
diaphragm, a suspension mechanism having a first portion attached
to the magnet assembly and a second portion attached to the
diaphragm so as to mount the diaphragm to the suspension mechanism,
the suspension mechanism allowing for travel of the diaphragm
relative to the magnet assembly, the diaphragm and the suspension
mechanism jointly defining at least part of an enclosure, and an
electric coil located in the coil gap and having a portion
connected to the diaphragm so that an electric current in the coil
causes movement of the diaphragm, movement of the diaphragm causing
movement of air through the venting passage between the enclosure
and externally of the magnet assembly, the travel of the diaphragm
being at least 0.1 times a diameter of the diaphragm.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] This invention is in general related to the installation of
electrical to acoustic transducers, such as loudspeakers, for high
fidelity (i.e., hi-fi) sound, voice paging, or music systems, and
more particularly to wall-mounted transducers in such systems.
[0002] Ceiling-mounted acoustic transducers used in conventional
voice paging and background music systems are a useful space-saving
feature. The transducers may be mounted at the time the residential
or commercial building is actually being built or renovated for a
new tenant. The location of the transducer is selected on a ceiling
board to be installed, and a frame specifically designed for the
transducer to attach to is installed at the location, when the
ceiling board is installed. Sound or voice carrying wires for the
transducer are routed from the frame along the ceiling, and then
down through a wall, to a wall-mounted electrical connector to
which the transmitter of a paging system is connected.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by
way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in
which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted
that references to "an" embodiment in this disclosure are not
necessarily to the same embodiment, and they mean at least one.
[0004] FIG. 1 shows a hi-fi sound system that has been built using
an embodiment of a method for installing a wall-mounted
transducer.
[0005] FIG. 2 depicts a close-up side view of an embodiment of the
embodiment of the wall-mounted transducer.
[0006] FIG. 3 illustrates a rear view of the wall-mounted
transducer of FIG. 2, when taken apart.
[0007] FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the wall-mounted
transducer.
[0008] FIG. 5 depicts yet another embodiment of the wall-mounted
transducer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] An easier method for installing a hi-fi sound, voice paging,
or background music system is described wherein the acoustic
transducer is mounted to a wall using construction industry
standard, wall mounted, gang boxes. According to an embodiment, the
transducer is small enough to fit inside a conventional single-gang
or multi-gang electrical gang box (sometimes called a `junction
box`), so that a front portion of the transducer body is located
within a front-to-back opening of a cover plate and is generally
flush with the front side of the plate. Standard construction
industry practice for routing electrical power wires through walls
may also be used to route dedicated transducer wires to carry the
music or voice signals to the transducer. Thus, the system may be
built more efficiently (due to the use of a standard wall mounted
gang box for which wire routing may be easily established) while
maintaining the space-saving features of the ceiling mounted
loudspeaker.
[0010] FIG. 1 shows a hi-fi sound system that has been built using
a method that features employing an embodiment of the wall-mounted
transducer. The hi-fi sound system has a number of decks,
including, for example a radio frequency (i.e., RF) receiver deck
104, a compact disc and/or digital video disc player deck 108, and
an amplifier deck 112. A wide range of other alternative music or
voice broadcast system configurations may be used, including, for
instance, a multi-speaker home entertainment audio and video system
that has a screen display 116. In general, these systems use
multiple transducers to accurately broadcast music or voice in a
commercial or residential building. One such transducer 120 is
shown in FIGS. 1-3 as being mounted inside a single-gang gang box
that has been mounted inside a wall 124 at an industry standard
height corresponding to the location of, for example, a toggle
switch. Note the presence of conventional vertical studs 144 and
horizontal studs 146 (also known as `fire breakers`) inside the
wall 124. These studs may be made of wood or metal.
[0011] Referring briefly to FIG. 2, the transducer 120 includes a
transducer body with a front portion and a rear portion. A
diaphragm 202, which vibrates to generate sound waves, is in the
front portion, while a coil (not shown), which moves the diaphragm,
is housed in the rear portion. An embodiment of the transducer 120
is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/706,145,
entitled "A Speaker For Use In Confined Spaces", filed on Nov. 3,
2000, (status: pending), which has been assigned to the same
assignee as that of the present application and is incorporated by
reference herein. Alternatively, any electrical to acoustic
transducer that has an audible frequency response that covers, for
example, the entire range of approximately 100 Hz-20 KHz for
accurate voice or music reproduction (be it foreground music or the
typically much lower volume background music heard in, for example,
elevators and hallways of a commercial building) and that
completely fits inside a standard gang box as described below can
be used. It should be noted that with current technologies, the
efficiency of a relatively powerful acoustic transducer that is
small enough to fit inside the single-gang gang box (such as the
one shown in FIGS. 1-3) and that can be mass produced, may become
too low below 100 Hz to be of any practical use.
[0012] Returning to FIG. 1, the transducer 120 is secured to a
plate 128 whose front side is visible in FIG. 1. The plate 128 may
be generally rectangular as shown, to cover a conventional
rectangular gang box. However, other shapes that cover the contour
of a gang box which is not rectangular may alternatively be used.
The outer dimensions of the plate 128 may the same as those of
industry standard components known as `device covers`. The plate
128 may be made of injection-molded plastic, for example, and has a
front-to-back enlarged opening which, in the embodiment of FIG. 1,
is generally circular and located at substantially the center of
the plate 128. The enlarged opening is sized to receive the front
portion of a body of the transducer 120. A non-circular opening may
alternatively be provided, to receive the front portion of a
transducer body which is not circular.
[0013] The installation of the hi-fi sound system also involves, in
the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, routing a pair of transducer wires
132 through the wall 124 in which the gang box is mounted. The
wires 132 are routed between a cut-out (not shown in FIG. 1) in a
side or rear wall of the gang box, and a wall mounted electrical
connector 136. They may be routed through plastic or metal wire
conduits (not shown) that have been placed in the wall 124 during
construction. The wires 132 are designed for conducting voice or
music signals that can directly drive a coil of the transducer 120.
The wall mounted connector 136 may be, for example, of the type in
which its front end (exposed in FIG. 1) accepts a stripped end of a
wire which is grasped between two metal tabs that are spring-loaded
against each other. Other types of connectors, such as dual jacks
that receive dual plugs, can be used. The exposed end of the wall
mounted connector 136 receives a second pair of transducer wires
140 which are used to electrically connect to an audio output in
the amplifier deck 112 from which the voice or music signals
originate.
[0014] As an alternative to the use of dedicated transducer wires
132 and 140, the transducer 120 may receive its voice or music
signals via a wireless interface (not shown). In such an
embodiment, a radio frequency (i.e., RF) or infrared frequency
receiver circuit would be provided in the gang box 204, perhaps
integral to the transducer body. The receiver, as well as perhaps
and the transducer's sound generating coil, could be powered by a
battery which may also be located in the gang box 204. This battery
could be rechargeable via electrical alternating current (AC) power
that is carried by conventional AC power wires that may be routed
through the wall 124 and into the gang box 204. As another
alternative, the voice or music signals can be carried by the
conventional AC power wires, although such wires may allow a more
limited range of audio frequency spectrum to be transmitted than
can dedicated transducer wires.
[0015] FIG. 2 shows a close-up side view of the transducer 120
mounted inside a wall mounted gang box 204, where, in this
embodiment, the box 204 is attached to a section of dry wall 208 at
two flanges 206 (at the top and bottom of the box 204 as shown).
However, it is expected that the gang box 204 will most likely be
attached through one of its sidewalls, using conventional
techniques, to the vertical stud 144 in the wall (see FIG. 1) such
as shown in FIG. 5 to be described below. Continuing to refer to
FIG. 2, a conventionally made cut out in a section of dry wall 208
allows easy access into the gang box 204 to reach the transducer
wires 132 whose ends electrically contact a connector (not shown)
located in the rear portion of the transducer 120. As an
alternative to dry wall, the gang box 204 may be mounted in other
types residential or commercial wall units, including, for
instance, lathe, plaster and perhaps concrete.
[0016] The transducer 120 is secured to the plate 128 using, in
this embodiment, a flange 212 formed at the very front portion of
the transducer body with front-to-back holes therein. Front facing
screws 216 are passed through these holes and threaded into a
number of hollows which can be seen in the front side of the plate
128 and are positioned outwardly of the enlarged opening. Other
techniques for securing the transducer may be used, including the
use of rear facing hollows in the back side of the plate 128 such
that the back side of the plate 128 receives the flange 212 and the
screws 216. Another technique is to provide a snap fit or clip
mechanism on the back side of the plate 128 which mates with a
cooperating mechanism on the flange 212. These techniques should be
designed so that the front portion of the transducer body is
located within the enlarged front-to-back opening of the plate 128
and is generally flush with the front side of the plate 128. In
addition, most of the transducer body, including its rear portion
which contains a coil (not shown) that moves the diaphragm, extends
behind the plate 128 into the gang box 204.
[0017] The plate 128 may be attached to the gang box 204 at a
number of points 220 on the plate, where such points are located
outwards from the enlarged opening. These points may feature, for
instance, front-to-back through holes which align with cooperating,
standard holes in the outer periphery of the wall mounted gang box
204. It should be noted that the plate 128 can be attached to the
gang box 204, and the transducer 120 can be secured to the plate,
in any order. In some cases, such as when using a rear side
attachment mechanism on the plate as described above, the
transducer 120 may be secured to the plate 128, and the transducer
wires connected to the connector on the transducer body, before
attaching the plate 128 to the gang box. In other cases, the plate
128 may be attached to the gang box before connecting the
transducer wires to the transducer 120 and then securing the
transducer to the plate 128.
[0018] For aesthetic purposes, or to protect the exposed diaphragm
202, a grid or screen (not shown) may be snap-fitted into the
recessed area 230 in the front of the plate 128.
[0019] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, some acoustic damping material
224 has been placed inside the gang box 204, behind the transducer
120, prior to mounting the transducer 120 inside the gang box 204.
An example of such a material is DACRON brand fiber fill or
standard fiberglass insulation material.
[0020] Referring now to FIG. 3, what is shown here is a rear view
of the plate 128 to which the transducer 120 is secured, positioned
next to the gang box 204 in which some acoustic damping material
224 has been placed. The plate mounting points 220 can be seen,
lying outwardly of the enlarged opening through which the front
portion the transducer 120 is received. In addition, a number of
screws 216 for securing the transducer 120 to the front side of the
plate 128, also lying outwardly of the enlarged opening, can also
be seen. The transducer wires 132 can be seen as they are connected
to the rear portion of the transducer 120.
[0021] FIG. 3 also shows an embodiment in which the plate 128
further includes a centering lip 304 that extends backwards from
the back side of the plate 128. The lip 304 is positioned outwards
of and substantially surrounds the enlarged opening, and cooperates
with inner contour portions of the sidewalls 308 of the gang box,
so as to center the plate 128 on the gang box 204. Thus, the lip
304 helps keep the transducer body from contacting any sidewalls
308 of the gang box 204. This feature may be desirable in
situations where the gang box 204 is made of metal and the
transducer body is not self shielded. In that case, without the
centering lip, it may be difficult to hold the transducer in a
fixed position inside a metal gang box because of strong forces
being generated by the strong magnets in the transducer body.
[0022] Turning now to FIG. 4, an alternative embodiment of the
wall-mounted transducer is shown in which a dual-gang box (not
shown) is used. A larger plate 428 is shown that has been attached
to and covers the dual-gang box. Secured to the dual-gang box is a
toggle switch 432, using conventional means. Also, the transducer
120 is secured to the plate 428, such as according to any of the
techniques described above for the single-gang embodiments shown in
FIGS. 1-3. An alternative to the toggle switch 432 may be an AC
receptacle or a light dimmer, both of which may be attached to the
dual-gang box according to conventional techniques. As another
alternative, a sound volume control mechanism (including a
rheostat) can be attached to an empty location in a multi-gang
(i.e., dual or greater) gang box. Such a mechanism would be coupled
to receive transducer wiring through the box and control the volume
of sound which is produced by the adjacent transducer and carried
by the wiring.
[0023] Referring now to FIG. 5, another embodiment of the
wall-mounted transducer is shown, this time using a larger, 4 inch
by 4 inch square gang box 504. This larger gang box 504 is attached
to the vertical stud 144 by securing a bracket 508 to the stud 144,
again by conventional means. The box 504 has cut-outs (not shown)
through which transducer wires are routed, in a manner similar to
the single-gang embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. The combination of the
transducer 120 and the single-gang plate 128 may be installed on
the larger box 504, by way of a reducer 510. The plate 128 can be
attached to the reducer 510 either prior to or after the reducer
510 itself is attached to the box 504.
[0024] The various embodiments of the method for installing a hi-fi
sound system described above can essentially apply unchanged to
install a voice paging (including an emergency instruction) system
or a background music system, by simply connecting the transducer
to the appropriate amplifier unit is such systems (rather than the
deck component of the hi-fi sound system) and, if desired, using
lower cost, and lower current capability wires that are suitable
for lower sound volume systems. Yet another possible use is within
a 70 Volt/100 Volt voice or music distributed sound system, such as
those used in large office buildings and restaurants, that have 70
Volt/100 Volt distribution wiring as the transducer wires. In such
an application, a transformer may be located in each gang box, in
addition to the transducer, as an impedance transformer between the
transducer and the 70/100 Volt distribution wiring. In addition,
the methods for installing the wall mounted transducer can be
applied to either indoor or outdoor commercial applications, such
as parking lots and schools, where voice paging systems are
used.
[0025] To summarize, various embodiments of a wall-mounted
transducer suitable for hi-fi sound, voice paging, and music
systems have been described. In the foregoing specification, the
invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary
embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various
modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing
from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in
the appended claims. The specification and drawings are,
accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a
restrictive sense.
* * * * *